Motor vehicle



l Filed June 21. 192 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented July l 1930 ilUmTESTATES f RoDoLIHUs FULLER, :oir DETROIT;- MICHIGAN Moron VEHICLE 'l Y Application iiidpnine 2i,

This invention relates to busconstruction' finaintained in assembled relation Vgre'latiye and has special Vrefr-:re'nce to, vgasoline electric drive which possesses the advantages of smooth acceleration and quiet operation,

Y 5 the former eliminating j-olts and the latter change of gears. In this' type 'of lous it is kess'ential'that easy access maybe had'to thei electric Vdrive andl attainthis hy placingr the electric motors outside ofthe bus chassis 'ie and in `proximity to the wheels to be driven thereby. l

It is also desirable that there may he a comparatively low floor and platformv without'the drive interfering with any seatingarrangement within the hns wheelv hub construction' that mayv he advantageously iised in connection 'with busesfand other 'types' of Amotor drivenjvehicles, partie-vv 25 ularly inV connection with a two, four orsix wheel drive inoliiding worms 'and f wo'rmr` wheels with the :former drivenfroni a source of power-commonto all the wheels of the veliicle or from a soiirce g of powerv for -each 30 wheel, and the latter grotatahle oir aniaxle spindle for impartingrotation by `directdrVe, t o the hiibof awheel rotatable'V 0n the aXlelspindle. 1 ,f In, motorv essential thaty the driving' conneetionhe vsuch that awheel-Ima'y be bodily `removedr withrv out anyadjusti'ment'sfof a'driving connection between the wheely and its Aso'urce` "of power.

' V'iif'tliisinvention a'novelformofdriving oon- A nection is employed to establish af Apositive .and reliable drive without any :unnecessary stresses or strains on the aXle spindle, thef drive connection being coaxial of the wheel oallydescrihed andthen elaiinedand refer-V that the floor and plat-` formy of the biisbe placed as .close to the. ground as possible to facilitate loading and 15 unloading, and jin this connection my inven-v tion 'aims to yarrange' the electric drive so My invention also aims to provide a novel driven vehielesiituis Athat the wheels he fdemouiitable and'wh'en the 'wheels aredrivenlrelative tofanaxle, it is` Y anti-frictionaliradial bearing ,snpporting f 9 axle provided with a novel arrangement of 1926, A serial ivorfi'iiraia.r bearings by which the Vdrivingelements varie',`

to fthe axle spindle, yet permitting of easy'v access loeinghad to the driving' elements, 'after ther wheel removed, so'that there' maybe proper rlulorication and` repair 'should occa` sion` require,

My invention will be hereinafter szpeofifi-y ence. willnow'be had to the drawing, wherei nl k .i

VFigure 1 is a verticallongitudinal sectional view of a wheel hub constructiony in acoordf ance, with this invention; Y

Fig. 2 kis a plan of the samey on a smaller scale; 1 Figyl is a plan o f the wheel hub;

Figr is a planvfof ay drive huh adaptedto' interlock with the' wheel hub; f 4 ,Figyj is ra diagrammatic `plan of afbus chssis having` independent drivenf wheels, an Y 6 is a longitudinal section of the same.-

`Reference will i'ir'sthe had to Figs.k 1 togli and for v.an iinderstanding"V of inygl invention an I end flange 2' and vsteppedLl"portions 4,5

5,'6,7, 8, 9. and 10 with the 'steppedportions 7 and `I LOeXteriorly screwthreadedanldthe KeyedI or otherwise mountedflon.i-.the

f stepped :portionv` 3 of jthefaxle 1 andi abiittingf the en d flange? 'is housin'giwall 'lStQ which is attached, kas y a cylindrical two-'part' housing lprovidefd vvithfa tangeiitially posed worniircasing 16 having', fend` caps l AOnfthel steppedportionq' of :thefgaXle 11 isv an:

v19 Vto which" is holte dior otherwise? connected,

as at 20-,ra1 worm =wheel Q lQmeShingwith Vwor'niQQ:rotatablein thewormpoasing I6 and i y n journaledin"theendcaps 17 thereof, so"`that` g5?.-

suitable connection be made :with the il worin`22 'fo'rdriving it from ar suitable? source I Off; @wer-aia may betaamt thfarl Y1 im? remote therefrom. vObviously thefworiri `casthereis showna portion ofaii axle lhavin'g 15 so that thedrivejrriay be below the axle spindle instead of above it.'

tndingontoth'e ustepped portion 5 thereof and against the bearing 40;, 5V

' operates with'the bearing 40 insupporting i .withithe 'tongues the drive hub 18...4 Thegbearing' 24 issandwiched between anend flange' 25 of the drivel hub and a collar 26`screwedinto the""drive: hub and.lockedthereon by ya V.setscrew 27. 11 `Retaining" the Vbearing` 24,011 `the stepped poi-, tionepfthea f n y n d stepped portieVA '17"of'the` axle l,and`fby,re m'vying; this nettare bearing 24am' other .ltSHey bebedly'rmved from the" spindle' ofiheaxle;

lisa nut 428 ,screwed onthe VOnthesteppedportions*8 and Qof the axle are` anti-frictional roller :bearings V29 :supporting r the v Lhub. of' a disk` V'wheel j31,`

said #wheel being held against longitudinal Y `movement,relative `to the aXle spindle vby theV washer 11 and thenut. 12, bothbeing enclosed by the outer lend ofthe wheelfhub30 andfa cap `detachably connected tof said wheel d. hub".y 'Obviously the' disk wl'ieellv is an eX- "ample ofmany types onf-wheels that may ernbody my improved huhv onstrLiction-,and the for a fnllfiioating typ'eof` wheel mounting, to

rious types of bearing zthat may be employed prevent dust and other foreign matter vfrom Establishing adfivirfgriationbetween the drive hub is andztheimier hab of the wheei 30.11Y thev outer 'jendf'of i the ldrive: hub? l -18` there is a seriesiof'tongiies 36 with "inter-f veiling Spaes'375-1d on the inner. eridof the? wheel'lhubfiSO'isJa)seriesfolj-tongnes 38 andi` vvintervenigI spaces fgThe 'spaces'AV 39 are Y d n y v adapted yjto"receive the" tongues36" andthe-` 111g downwardly inra rearward dire'ction,"and`v airearlplatform"abutting'thelower-.end ofl nnular wall substantially Athi 'showing thek axleA 1,".wheels 31 and theworm casings 16 as above theaxle. These worm cas- Y. .Y j ings are between the wheels 31 andthe side Y MMounted on thesteppedfportion 2610i' .the laide l1 against-.the spacer 23 is a combined endand radialthrustbeating 24....Wbcll.co-`

frames 41r of abus'or othertype of'vehicle cl'1a`ssi's42.` The wormswithin the casings 16 haVGeXteDSiOn shafts...4i3-to electric motors 44. and these motors are suitably supported yat the outer sides of the frames 41 Vso that leasy access may be had to the same; The motors are adapted to beelectri'cally connected to a'gasoline engine driven electrical generator 45 with suitable @mailing devices by which The positioning of the motors 44 `and-other driving 4means Ventirelyoutside, the chassis 41 leaves a clear space 'between'the sides of the cha'ssis;V Consequently the lo'or`46 may be'` built-considerably lower than if various parts of the driving mechanism protruded into the chassis. -.An. inclined faisl'e or "ramp 47 'is formed longitudinally and centrally ofthe licor', sloping downwardly `in the rearward direction where itmerges into -a rear platforrnll;v This mode of"const`uction over- Y coniesfthe Vnecessity'o 'a low andtroublesome step.: between the rearplatform and the floor which would otherwisebe necessary. As be- `fore stated, the worm drive may bebelow the axle spindles,A insteadV of kas shown by dotted lines in Fig. 6,'consequently therecould benel interferencewith any seats on the floors 4 6 extending beyond the sides of the .chassis` What I "claim isz-l v In a Vbus construction, a chassis,'propel ling wheels mo'lintedv g outside said chassis7 driving means for `saidwheels disposed entirelyoutsfide the chassis,lasubstantially level floorp'o'nisaid' chassis, adainp L'formed l0ngi-, ltudinally V,and centrallyof said iioor and sloping downwardly yin a rearward direction, andfa platform.abuttingtthe lower end. ofsaidramp. H J Y '2.'. Ina b'usconstruction, a chassi's,r propelling wheelsmounted outside of said chassis, driving means for said wheels disposed entirely o iitside thefchassisya substantially level looronsaidtchassis, a ramp formedlongitudinally and centrally 'of said floorand slop- {Intestirnony whereof I affix mysignature.

ion

RoDoLPHUs FULLER. y 

